It had been two years since I went to New Zealand as a backup competitor on the reality show Pacific Run.
In those years, the incident caused the show to be canceled. Sure, the year my cousin, George Fayne, or friend, Nancy Drew, and I competed brought in huge ratings, but all the sabotage brought to light a lot of serious safety concerns.
Sure, Nancy seemed to follow around the producer of the competition that year, Sonny Joon, during her cases, but, though I had a huge crush on him two years ago, I hadn't thought of him much since Nancy mentioned finding another one of his comics in Iceland last year.
Nancy was planning a trip to Salem, Massachussetts, this past fall, but that fell through. She hasn't had a case since Iceland, which is weird for her. She, George, and I got a townhouse together.
Things in River Heights became... Peaceful.
Until the (horribly cliche) stormy night that a haggard man showed up on our doorstep.
George and Nancy had gone out to some charity event at the Old Town Hall Museum. I wasn't sure if I should go, since I still didn't know if Alexei Markovic liked me.
So, there I was, home alone with this weird man standing at our door.
Something seemed familiar about him. His dark hair was long, shaggy, and messy. If it had been dyed at any point, the color was long gone. His clothes hung looser than I'd remembers, and his purple glasses slid down his nose.
And then it hit me. I did know him.
"Sonny?" I asked.